The Soldier
by DevilRed03
Summary: Prequel to 'The Letters': For those I love, I will sacrifice. That's the creed of the Huntsmen - a special operations unit with a proud history within Vale's military. Ruby Rose was Huntress number 683 out of the elite division, not many had the guts to make it. But despite all of that, all she could focus on was what had happened with her - Weiss Schnee. (AU, some OOC, Angst)
1. The Heiress and The Soldier

There are times that I'll look up at the night sky and think about us. It's been a while, hasn't it? We're not kids anymore, and I'm not as hesitant as I was before.

* * *

How long has it been?

Silver eyes looked up above, the stars were like diamond against the dark velvet backdrop. The breeze blew against her face as her gaze made it's way from the different constellations she could remember. This spot on the roof of her birth home in Patch had always remained her favorite. A peculiar chain hung from her neck, the metal dog tags glistened underneath the moonlight. It's become a habit for her to wear these, especially after her first combat tour.

All Ruby could think about was the letter that came in the mail.

Dark locks that were tinted in a dark rose color danced against the late summer wind, she inhaled the scent of summer before exhaling it with her uncertainties. Her regrets. Her doubt. Her mistakes.

The Rose turned over on her side; the question racked her mind as she continued to mull it over. She recalled leaving home after graduating from high school at Signal Academy to join Vale's ranks in their Armed Forces. She became an adept Platoon Commander in the prestigious Special Forces unit – The Huntsmen. Rising rather quickly to the rank of Sergeant and becoming one of the youngest Non-Commissioned Officers in her unit. She thought back to the war that was going on between the guerilla fighters based out of deserts of Mistral and the rest of the civilized world.

A surge of pride filled her chest, she had done her kingdom of Vale proud with her current service. 5 years of service with 3 combat tours under her belt.

How long has it been… since our first encounter?

She remembered the first time they met, it was a college party at Beacon University – she was home on leave with two years of service under her belt and Weiss was a junior in college at Beacon. They were young, Ruby was unsure of what to do when she first saw her, but all she knew was that there was an undeniable magnetic pull between the two – and she had forgotten how to breath.

" _C'mon, pony up soldier." Yang placed one hand on her sister's shoulder and had the other hand holding a red solo cup filled with jungle juice, "Just go over there and say, 'Babe, I'm going to war tomorrow and I might not make it back. This might be my-'" A smack to the back of the head finished the rest of that sentence._

 _Cat ears twitched as Blake stared down the blond, "Don't listen to your sister." She handed Ruby another cup that was filled with jungle juice._

" _You're a Huntress Rubes, the badass of all badasses." Yang commented, "You can't get scared over talking to a girl." She made eyes at the Schnee Dust Empire Heiress, "Even if your tastes are a tad bit picky."_

 _Ruby took a big gulp, she had completed some of the most difficult training that most of the population would never encounter and had become proficient at her job as a member of an elite Special Forces unit – the Huntsmen. However, Ruby Rose was still a bit timid when it came to talking to girls. Which made sense since the 19 year old didn't date around too much in high school, especially when compared to Yang._

" _Look." Yang could feel the nervous sensation coming out of her sister, "She wants to play some beer pong and the tables open." The Criminal Justice major pushed her younger sister in the direction of the table, "You're a trained predator, so start acting like one!" Came the quip._

 _The Huntress took another big gulp from her drink before approaching the table._

" _Are you fine with me jumping in?" Her voice came out a bit timid._

 _Weiss took note of the new face, she had never seen this one around before, and she would have remembered this face if she had before, "Perfectly fine." Her tone was confident as opposed to the newcomer, "I'm Weiss Schnee, are you a freshman?"_

 _Ruby shook her head, "Ruby Rose, I'm actually in the military – I'm Yang's younger sister."_

 _Weiss made a face, she couldn't believe that this kid was supposed to be a part of the Huntsmen – the Xiao Long loved to brag about her Huntress sibling._

" _There's no way a dolt like you is a Huntress." Weiss sized her up – Ruby was a few inches tall than her, although she couldn't tell what kind of build she had with the dark red jacket on._

 _Ruby raised a brow; did the Schnee Princess just insult her pride as a Huntress? "You wanna bet then?" The confidence (or maybe it was the alcohol finally catching up) she had developed during training came through as she eyed the Schnee heiress._

 _The Business major heiress grinned to herself as she saw Ruby straighten out her back and actually looked Weiss in the eye, "I'll accept what ever proposal you lay out then, Huntress." The last word came out in a more sarcastic tone, which only seemed to add more fuel to the fire that was picking up within Ruby._

 _A smirk made it's way to Ruby's face, "Loser owes the winner a favor of their choosing."_

" _Hmm…" Weiss pondered, "I'm not one for blind deals, so I request that we lay out our favors right now."_

" _Fine."_

" _I want you to be my personal servant for the night, anything I need or want you go and get for me." The Schnee said with an air of confidence, "I like the jungle juice and my favorite drunk food is Dust Donuts which is located down the street and is a 24 hour place. Your favor?"_

 _Silver eyes didn't break away, the challenge that was presented in front of her awoken her inner instincts as a Huntress – which was to arise and overcome any challenge smartly and aggressively._

" _I want a kiss."_

Ruby smiled fondly at the memory, Yang hooted and hollered when it came down to the fateful last few cups. Weiss had begun to lose her cool and messed up a few of her shots while Ruby lived for the pressure she was working under.

The kiss itself tasted like the sweet pineapple found in the jungle juice and the sharp undertone of liquor, but through it all she got the long lasting taste of mint and lavender on her tongue.

After that initial kiss the two were practically all over each other for the rest of the party. Any time Ruby or Weiss would slip out to go to the bathroom or have a breathe of fresh air the other would follow and an intense make-out session would ensue. And this drunken encounter had set the tone for the rest of the time Ruby was on leave. She had taken 3 weeks off, the first week she spent at Patch with her dad, the other 2 with Yang at Beacon.

It was the classic love story that was almost as old as time itself.

Soldier meets Heiress and they're attracted to each other instantaneously. They then start to spend as much time together as possible, the fact that the Soldier had a limited time home spurred more spontaneous dates, more late nights to early mornings, more time kissing and making love.

The memories from that time came rushing at Ruby, everything playing in her mind's eye as things played out from the beginning.

They went to as many places together as possible, cafes that were supposed to be pretty good, going down to the beach and splashing around in the late summer sun, drive-in movie theaters, and a few trips to the abandoned town next to Mt. Glenn. Ruby remembered her last night in Beacon, she spent it with Weiss and the two went up to Mt. Glenn one last time.

They went up in Yang's pick up truck and lay down in the bed of the truck together. They were quiet for most of the night, trying to memorize the smell of the other, the taste of their lips, the curve of their neck, the way their hair would fall back on their shoulder after running a hand through it.

Weiss cried. Ruby held her the whole time, gently stroking the silvery locks, planting gentle kisses on her forehead. The Huntress still remained rather silent, she knew that there weren't any words that could remedy the situation, only what she could provide to Weiss now. Ruby remembered her eyes welling up with tears a few times, but she held them back because she knew it would just turn into a big sob fest.

And that's not how she wanted to remember her last night with Weiss before she went back to her base that was located on the outskirts of the desert located in between Vale and Mistral. Ruby's base was located on the Vale side of the desert, but she was still going to be at least 2947 miles away from Weiss. Not that she was counting.

Once dawn broke and the morning rays hit the back of Yang's pick up truck did the two finally drive back down to Beacon. Ruby had an early flight back on the airship to take her to her Base. A month later and she would be on her first combat tour into the desert to fight the terrorist group that has called themselves 'The Grimm'.

The Soldier and the Heiress said goodbye in the courtyard, Yang was waiting in her truck and had some bags under her eyes from waking up early to take Ruby to the airship dock.

The two embraced one last time, a gentle kiss that was salty like the sea but still sweet like peppermint was exchanged. When Ruby pulled away to go to the truck did Weiss call after her.

" _Promise me you'll write and call." Weiss's eyes threatened to spill more tears._

 _Ruby ran her thumb underneath the Schnee's eyes to wipe away the tears. "I will."_

 _Another silent pause, the Huntress stuck her hand into her jacket pocket to retrieve a rather precious round metal object. It was her Huntsmen coin – numbered 683 – this coveted round metal object was presented to Huntsmen once they completed their training. Ruby had explained this story to Weiss a few times when she showed her the coin._

" _Hold on to this for me, I'll come back for it."_

It was hectic once Ruby left for her first combat tour in Mistral's desert.

Weiss understood the lack of communicated while Ruby was on her combat tour that ended up lasting about 10 months. During the combat tour the two exchanged many letters, this was mostly due to the fact that Ruby's CCT connection was shit in the desert.

The tour itself… It was an eye opener for Ruby, they had went into the desert in a team of 9 Huntsmen and came back to home station with 8. The lost one of their Huntsmen during a raid, but Ruby still preserved. The vast desert that seemed to go on forever, sand that just got every fucking where, the dry and arid climate whose temperature got up to 130 degrees.

The firefights with the Dust rifles and pistols, Dust forbid if they had to do actual hand to hand combat with an enemy. It was one thing to shoot your adversary; it was another thing to kill a man with your bare hands.

She thought back to her fallen Huntsmen comrade, Pyrrha Nikos. Jaune was a wreck for a while after that, the whole team was.

Weiss did her best to be there for Ruby during that difficult time, and she had done so wonderfully. The heiress insisted on buying Ruby's next airship ticket home, but the Huntress denied the gesture and flew home on her own accord.

It had nearly been a year since the two met.

Ruby remembered going to Patch for a bit and then back to Beacon. Yang, Weiss, and Blake were seniors now and Ruby had plans to go to their graduation in the upcoming spring.

They partied, hung out, Ruby was caught up on the latest gossip and happenings around Beacon University. The Huntress smiled and nodded as she put faces to names, but she didn't really care for the gossip. What she did care about was spending with Weiss.

However, what put a slight damper on her trip to Beacon was meeting some of their new friends who came from the kingdom of Mistral, they were transfers from Haven University that were going to graduate from Beacon.

" _This is Neptune." Weiss introduced, "He's also a business major, despite his dopey looks, he's pretty smart." She flashed a smile to Neptune. "This is my girlfriend Ruby, the one I've been telling you about."_

 _Neptune returned her smile with one of his own, it was stunning and it was accompanied by a playful wink._

 _Ruby forced back a frown, she didn't like the vibe she got from the kid. Even though he was technically older than her, "Nice to meet you, Ruby." She stuck out her hand to shake his._

" _Neptune, the pleasure is mine." He beamed with confidence, "Thank you for your service, what you do in the desert definitely does not go unnoticed – especially in Mistral."_

" _Eh… it's not problem, really. We're just doing our job." Ruby never learned how to respond to those statements._

" _No really, Weiss tells me that you're apart of the Huntsmen Corp too." Neptune's hand placed itself on the Schnee's shoulder and Ruby took note of it, "She told me you did your first combat tour too."_

" _Yea, it was an eye opener." Ruby let out, the damn hand that had placed itself on her girlfriend's shoulder had to go. Immediately._

That wasn't the only time, there was the time they were at a café and Neptune happened to be walking by with Sun. The two joined up with the couple and Weiss ended up inviting them to the drive in movie theater with her and Ruby.

And that wasn't the last of it either; as it became apparent that Neptune was a close friend with Yang and Blake so Ruby ended up having to deal with his mug every other day. However, she didn't want to cause trouble since she was only going to be home for so long and she didn't want to cause any terrible memories to come up with Weiss.

Although the two did have their quality time while she was in town. The night before she had to go back to her unit was spent in Weiss' room.

 _The soft glow of the moonlight came seeping through the window, Weiss' pale skin seemed to glow with a thin sheen of sweat that covered her skin. Ruby wasn't better off herself as her hair was slightly matted with sweat._

 _Trails of love bites were formed on her neck, her chest, her naval, and even on her back. Ruby smiled at the sight, they both covered the other in love bites in some kind of savage attempt to claim their territory on the other._

 _Glossed over light-blue eyes looked into equally hazy silver ones._

" _I love you, Ruby Rose."_

 _A tender kiss._

" _I love you too, Weiss Schnee."_

They definitely had a lot of quality time together that night, Ruby couldn't recall another time that she had ever made love as passionately as that night.

However, the uneasiness that came with Neptune never left.

It wasn't noticeable at first, texts saying that she was studying with him didn't bother her at first. Calls where she could hear his voice in the background didn't bother her at first.

It was just the damn consistency of it.

Finally Ruby voiced her concern to Weiss over the blue haired kid's constant presence.

" _We're classmates, you dolt. He's definitely no you, Ruby."_

Weiss tried to reassure Ruby's jealousy, which worked for a while. During her time at her unit Ruby trained constantly to keep her body in shape and her mind sharp. Constantly studying any new tactics the Grimm terror group were using, teaching the some of the green Huntsmen useful fighting techniques, managing her responsibilities as a Sergeant.

A few months passed and Ruby would fly back to Beacon during their winter break for a few days.

This is where things got messy.

Stories of 'Neptune and Weiss' this and 'Weiss and Neptune' that just drove the Huntress bat shit crazy.

Ruby and Weiss got into their first fight over it.

It ended with the two reconciling, Weiss tried to remedy the situation by limiting how much time she was spending with Neptune, now keeping him on a stricter schedule for school purposes only – she didn't want to lose Ruby.

But it got more difficult for the two due to Ruby's occupation. Two months into the New Year and Ruby got the orders from her chain of command.

The Huntress was handpicked to undertake a special top-secret assignment, the destination itself couldn't be discussed, nor could the amount of time she would be out on the field.

Ruby sighed deeply as she stared up at the night sky, she took a red eye airship to Beacon to tell Weiss the news, she didn't tell anyone except for Yang that she was coming over – albeit for barely a day since she had to ship out on her mission soon.

 _Ruby waited in Weiss' room, white roses in hand and a heavy heart in the other. The Huntress wasn't sure how long this one was going to last, especially with the details of the mission itself being classified._

" _You're fine Princess," She heard the familiar deep voice._

 _A light giggle rang out from behind the door, "I can handle myself."_

 _The door opened to reveal Neptune with his arms around Weiss, as if trying to carry her inside. A hickey could be seen clearly on the neck of heiress._

 _Ruby saw red._

 _It was second nature for her to grab Neptune by the collar. It was simple for her to toss the kid on the floor and drive her fist into his back._

" _Stop!" Weiss called, the scent of liquor littered the air, "You're hurting him!"_

" _Why are you still hanging around this kid?" Ruby exclaimed._

" _He was dropping me off from the club Ruby!" She defended._

 _The Huntress pointed to the red mark on her neck, "What's that then?"_

" _We… were dancing and he got a little worked up, I told him to stop." Weiss responded, she looked to the floor before looking back up, "I can take care of myself Ruby."_

" _By letting him get away with feeling you up?!" Ruby shouted in disbelief, "We're supposed to be dating Weiss!"_

" _We are! You need to cool it, we're just friends. This is a college Ruby! Stuff like this happens a lot, but I'm still with you at the end of the day." The heiress was getting cross again, they were coming back to the same thing they've been arguing about for a while now._

" _No." Ruby looked down at the blue haired kid, "I… I can't do this." She thought to the mission she was about to embark on – she couldn't deal with the anxiety of someone trying to get with Weiss while she was getting shot up in some Dust forsaken place._

" _What do you mean?" Weiss' voice dropped in volume._

 _Ruby looked down, "I'm going on another mission, this one's more dangerous… I can't tell you much about it, but I need to be focus." A tear threatened to fall, "I can't handle this stress." Silver eyes looked into diamond colored ones, "I trust you, but I don't trust him around you."_

" _What are you saying? You mean… to break up?" What ever buzz was left in Weiss now immediately disappeared._

" _Yes." The word slipped out of her mouth, "Good bye, Weiss."_

That was the last time Ruby had talked to Weiss, nearly 2 years now. And she regretted that decision for the longest time ever since.

The envelope in the Huntress' hand became the center of attention. The paper itself was wrinkled and worn now from the constant opening and closing of the letter. A part of her wanted to burn the letter, another part of her wanted to cry.

 _You are cordially invited to the wedding of Weiss Schnee and Neptune Vasilias._

Ruby looked up at the night sky, the wedding was supposed to be in Atlas at the White Castle.

* * *

She wasn't sure what she was doing here, at the Schnee Dust Company headquarters. She got up that morning, dressed in jeans, a simple shirt, and her favorite dark red jacket before turning her attention to her scroll.

The secretary at the desk gave Ruby a puzzled look, the office worker thought that Ruby was some sort of delivery person based off of her scruffy look. Which Ruby played off quite well.

"Ms. Schnee has a package waiting for her," Ruby let out in a calm tone, "Pass her this and tell her I'll be outside on the patio downstairs."

The worn down round metal object with the words 'For Those I Love, I Will Sacrifice' engraved on one side, the flip side had the number 683 beneath the Huntsmen crossed axes logo on it.

"Uhh… Will do. What exactly is this?" The secretary looked it over.

"It's important, she'll understand once she see's it."

Ruby made her way to the patio down stairs; she had booked a ticket to Atlas on her Scroll that morning and got a hotel room for the night. She had to see her.

The past 2 years without Weiss have been painful, to say the least. There was too many nights that she had spent wondering about her. How she was doing, if she was happy, if she missed Ruby at all.

The top secret mission she was sent on made things easy for Ruby, mostly because she wasn't allowed to communicate with anyone while on the mission. However, that didn't do anything but cause an even bigger desire to talk to her again. Ruby forced herself to stay busy with her job, taking on any random assignment and volunteer opportunity to keep herself busy from the actual problem at hand.

Kept herself busy with the constant firefights and rolling activity. Ruby killed a lot of bad guys during that time… she didn't like to talk about it.

"Hey."

Silver eyes meet piercing blue.

"Hey." Ruby responded back as she looked over the business mogul.

Weiss wore her hair down now instead of the side ponytail from her school days. "Have you been keeping safe?"

Ruby recalled the bullet wound she received in her chest; she was able to walk away from it after a couple of weeks, "For the most part."

"That's not exactly reassuring." Weiss took a seat next to her, she smoothed out her slacks and undid the button on her jacket, "Sorry I took so long, I had to clear out the rest of my day."

"You didn't have to do that, I would have waited." Ruby let out, as she looked the woman in the eye, "I got your invitation."

"Father likes him and his business sense." Weiss let out, "He does good for the company too, he's working some kinks out over in Vacuo right now. Won't be back for a few weeks."

Ruby nodded her head at the fact, "Are you happy?"

"For the most part." Weiss smirked as she gave the answer.

"Valid." The red haired girl let out.

The coin was placed on the table in between the two, "What are you doing here?"

"I… I'm not sure," A labored sigh left the Huntress, "I haven't stopped thinking about you."

A small smile grew on the Schnee's face, "Really? Even though you called it off."

"I couldn't deal with the anxiety of pretty boy pulling some shit on you." The response was aggressive, which almost threw off Weiss.

"Fair." Weiss sighed, "Why didn't you return my messages? My letters?" A hurt look encompassed her face.

"I didn't know how to deal with it, to deal with you." Ruby looked up, "You were my first real relationship, and all I knew back then was that I just wanted you." Another sigh, "And then seeing you with Neptune just… I don't know… it just drove me mad."

"I couldn't just ignore him Ruby, he was my classmate-"

"And now he's your fiancé." The bitter remark snapped out, the Huntress took another deep breath. "I don't want to talk about him. I just wanted to talk to you."

"Then let's talk." Weiss crossed her arms.

A sheepish look from Ruby, "I just wanna know some things, and then I'll leave you alone." A nervous hand ran through her still short hair, "Did you miss me?"

Weiss was taken a back, what kind of question was that? "Of course I missed you, you dolt." She had spent the rest of her senior year crying over the birdbrain, gun slinging Soldier.

A small smiled erupted from Ruby, "Good to know… How're you holding up lately?"

Stressed. In disbelief. Slightly angry. Impatient. Longing. Nostalgic.

Weiss went through the list, she kept her temper check as she gave a stern look to the Huntress. She looked over the coin on the table, the memories came rushing back to her as she thought back to those times. She ran her fingers across the coin like she had done so many times before whenever she missed or thought of Ruby.

"Mad. Got it." Ruby answered for her, she got up, "I'm really not sure what I'm doing here… I just…. I just wanted- I don't know." The words came out. "Look, I'm sorry that I fucked up your day, I'll go-"

"One day." Weiss let out, "Until this time tomorrow, we'll pick up where we last left off." She said it, the proposal that Ruby was too timid to voice or realize she wanted. And she wasn't the only one who wanted to turn back the clock to those less complicated times. Weiss missed Ruby. Weiss missed the two of them together.

"Arguing? Pissed? Half-drunk in rage and alcohol?" Ruby recalled every detail from that night.

"You idiot."

"That's why you love me."

The phrase hung in the air.

Piercing blue eyes stared into those soft silver ones.

"That's why I love you." The Schnee responded. Ruby stayed standing as she looked over Weiss in relief. For the next 24 hours she could be with Weiss, be with her and ask her all the questions that have been burning in the back of her mind over the past 2 years.

"Lunch?" Ruby offered.

Weiss nodded, "Let's go to my manor, it'd be bad if people… saw." The business mogul stood up.

Ruby understood, she had a very public image she needed to uphold, especially with such a high profile wedding on the horizon. The Huntress grabbed the round metal object from the table and pocketed it once more.

It was a quiet car ride over, the Schnee manor itself was huge. Weiss went through the motion of dismissing the manor staff for the day; she wanted to insure that there was as much privacy as possible for the two.

Weiss took out some ingredients for sandwiches; Ruby remained silent as she helped her out with making the food. The two finally took a seat at the kitchen table as they ate their food.

"How was graduation?" Ruby finally broke the silence.

Weiss looked up as she took a bite from her sandwich, "It was uneventful, I had a speech since I was Valedictorian." She beamed proudly, "I went back home to here in Atlas after about 6 months in Beacon."

"Why did you hang back for so long?" Ruby raised a brow.

"I was waiting for you."

Ruby stopped eating at this point, "I was still on that classified mission."

"The one where you guys killed the Grimm financial provider in the outskirts of Vacuo and the number two man in the Grimm?"

"How do you know that?" Ruby looked up in disbelief, "The part where we killed the financial provider was supposed to be a top secret."

"I know people, powerful people." Weiss looked up, "Why didn't you come back to me?"

"I wasn't sure." Ruby sighed.

"For being the Huntsmen's youngest NCO, you sure hesitate a lot."

"Someone's been doing their homework."

"Like you, I didn't get the closure I wanted… so I kept tabs on you, because I was worried."

"About what?" Ruby joked as she got up, she looked over the wine collection on the wall.

"That you didn't get blown up, shot, or killed while you went on all your missions." Weiss let out, "You get careless."

"I have a duty to my kingdom."

"You have a responsibility to stay safe."

Ruby picked out a red wine bottle from the shelf, Weiss got up and retrieved 2 glasses from the kitchen. The Huntress poured out the wine.

"My responsibility is to keep people like you safe." Ruby clinked the two glasses together and began to drink, half the glass was gone in one gulp.

"You have people who love you that want to see you come back." Weiss took a drink from her glass.

"I only wanted to come back to you." The words rang out, the glass in the Huntress' glass was emptied out and the bottle was used to refill the contents.

"Why didn't you?"

"We broke up."

"You broke up with me."

"And you stayed there defending him."

"That's not fair." Weiss stood up, her face flushed, "You freaked out on me."

"Because another man was putting his hands on my girlfriend?" Ruby scoffed, she finished up her glass once more, "I think I was in the right state of mind to kick his ass."

"I… That didn't mean anything." Weiss retorted.

Ruby scoffed as she filled her glass again, she noticed Weiss had drunk hers as well, "If it didn't mean anything, then why are you engaged to him now?"

"Because he was supposed to be you, you fucking dunce!" Weiss screamed, "I'm sorry! I'm sorry for doing that to you in college, but I didn't know any better. I didn't think too much about his flirting! I didn't think it bothered you as much as it did! But you left me Ruby!" Weiss' face was flushed, she grabbed the bottle from Ruby and took a swig straight from it.

"Weiss-"

"No," Another swig, "You didn't let me fight back that night, you fucking left. And Neptune was there to help pick up the pieces. Did you know that I almost fucked up my grades for the rest of the year? I spent so many months crying over you, and I had no idea where you were or if you were safe."

"I was on a special mission." Ruby simply stated, Weiss rolled her eyes at her.

"If you had stayed a little bit longer, if we had talked it out… this was supposed to be you." There were tears threatening to spill from her eyes.

The Huntress stood there, nearly dumbfounded, she took her wine glass and took another swig from it. Once again the glass was empty and she noticed Weiss had polished off the rest of the bottle.

"How did things get so fucked?" Ruby stood again and made another move for the wine rack, this time it was a white wine. They didn't bother to get new glasses or anything like that – this wasn't Weiss' good stuff.

"Because you're a Huntress and I was a flirtatious Heiress." The Schnee got up to join the spot at the counter with Ruby, the bottle of wine didn't even make it to the glass as Ruby took swigs from the bottle. "Because you can be stubborn and irrational."

"Because you drove me insane with jealousy every time I saw you with him." The Rose sighed at her insecurities, "Did you really care about me that much?"

Weiss grabbed the wine bottle, she wanted to partake in it too, "I always did – I still do." Tears threatened to spill, "You can't keep dogging him Ruby, he helped put me back together… I was a wreck."

The Soldier nodded, "Has he kept you happy?"

"Yes."

"Is he still an annoying flirt?"

Weiss giggled, "It never went away."

"Do you love him?" Ruby eyed her steadily, the half drunk bottle of wine found a spot on the counter.

"I do…" Weiss looked her back in the eyes, "He deserves it for being there for me, and you know it."

"Fair." Dark lock shook as she looked down on the counter, "Would this really have been me if I didn't run?"

"I believe so, but at the same time I didn't make things easy for you back then." A hand reached out to Ruby's shoulder.

"Can't have it if it's too easy, I of all people should not that, especially by now." She let the hand sit there, it's warmth seeped through her jacket and went straight to her core. "Thank you, Weiss."

With a gentle tug, strong arms engulfed the smaller Heiress. Weiss clutched on to Ruby as if she were a lifeline, a tear ran down her cheek. "A part of me will always care for you Ruby." A deep breath, "You know that you'll always have a special place in my heart."

"Yeah, I know." A soft kiss made it's way to the soft forehead that smelled of lavender and pepper mint, "I'm gonna go, take care."

Weiss nodded as she followed Ruby out the house, she waited with her in the foyer. It was quiet as the two sat side by side, Ruby placed a hand in Weiss' lap and the smaller girl placed her hand over it. The rough callouses became apparent and so did the rough trigger finger.

Once the cab pulled up to the front door, Ruby spun around one more time.

"You'll always have a soft place in my heart too. "

There was no hesitation as the Rose dipped her head down to the Schnee, it was gentle as first, but like a rushing dam everything came bursting out. Weiss grabbed a fistful of the Soldier's hair, Ruby pulled her close in an attempt to erase any more space that was between the two.

Breathlessly, the two pulled away.

Without another word the front door opened Ruby jumped into the cab.

"Dawn Lodging near the airship docks." The brisk words fell out as Ruby leaned back into the cab seat.

"Was that Weiss Schnee?" The cab driver questioned, "The business Heiress of Atlas?"

Ruby nodded, "We go back a bit."

"Are you going to their wedding?" A smile was on the driver's face, "I do enjoy a good wedding."

"Maybe, I'm in Vale's military so it'll depend."

"Oh, what do you do? My cousin's in the military for Atlas." The cab driver studied the face in the mirror.

"I'm a Huntsmen in Vale's Corp."

"No shit!" The cab driver nearly swerved the car as he almost missed a turn, "You guys are pretty famous yourselves, the crazy missions that the news cover seem insane and down right impossible. My cousin wanted to join Atlas' Huntsmen Corp – but he didn't have it in him."

A glint was in Ruby's eye, "It's a little tough."

Later that night Ruby stayed awake, the she played with the coin in her hand as she held it up to the ceiling.

"For those I love, I will sacrifice." She mumbled to herself, the Huntsmen's creed rang true to her heart.

She closed her eyes and thought back to those happier times, the playful dates, the long phone calls, the naughty video dates, the texts, the letters… She never got rid of her letters, not even the ones that she didn't respond to.

She rolled over and looked outside, the floor to ceiling window gave a beautiful view of Atlas' high tech city. Weary eyes got up and put a hand to the glass pane, another sigh escaped her lips as she put her forehead against the cool material.

Exploring the abandoned town outside of Mt. Glenn…

" _Back in the day, this used to be a strong hold for the Grimm, but Vale's Huntsmen Corp came in and did what they did best. Now it's abandoned and the kingdom is still working on trying to rebuild it." Ruby explained animatedly._

" _So you're sure there's no one here?" Weiss was a bit skeptical._

" _Even if there was, I'd kick their ass so fast, you wouldn't even know they were here to begin with." An excited chuckle, "I'll protect you."_

 _A light kiss made it's way to Ruby's cheek, "I'll hold you to that."_

Their first time making love…

" _W-Wait… I gotta tell you something." The Soldier stopped the Heiress mid-way, some of their clothes already littered the floor and Ruby could feel Weiss' gaze sizing her up like a piece of meat._

" _What?" An impatient tone, Weiss ran a feathery hand across the toned stomach, Ruby's training had definitely paid off._

" _T-This… I'm… I-I…" The words couldn't form sentences._

 _And then all of a sudden, it dawned on Weiss, "Hot-young-blooded good-looking Soldier is a virgin?" She exclaimed in playful disbelief, "So I'll be taking the honor of being your very first?"_

 _Ruby's face flushed a bright red._

 _A seductive laugh, "Oh, I'll definitely be having fun with you now."_

The first time they reunited after Ruby's first combat tour…

" _Hurry up already you dolt!" Weiss cried out from behind the barrier, the Heiress took that Friday off from school and flew down to Ruby's base to greet her. Albeit, the two would only have a few days before Weiss would have to fly back to Beacon Sunday night._

 _A playful push from her fellow Huntsmen nearly sent Ruby flying off the airship rotator, "You heard her." Jaune smiled brightly, "Hurry the fuck up."_

 _Weiss eyed Ruby in her combat uniform, the dunce looked pretty damn good in it._

 _Ruby easily hopped the barrier and stood before her girlfriend, Weiss did a quick inspection to see if there were any wounds that the red head didn't mention._

" _Good, you're in one piece."_

" _I'm back." Ruby smiled as she engulfed her into her arms._

A soft knock at the door interrupted Ruby's thoughts.

She checked the time, it was 2 am and she had an airship flight back to Patch at 5 pm, cautiously she approached the door.

"It's me." Came the soft voice.

Ruby yanked the door open, "What are you doing here? How did you know I was here?" Her brows were furrowed against her forehead.

There stood Weiss Schnee, in casual jeans and a hoodie, her face was flushed and her eyes were red. Her hair was swept to the side as she eyed Ruby as if she were prey.

"I over heard you tell the cab driver."

That was the only sentence Weiss got out as she jumped on her favorite soldier. Ruby easily caught her in her arms, she had done this many times before. A heated kiss erupted between the two, Ruby sat down on the bed with Weiss in her lap while those soft hands made grab at her hair.

Chaste kisses filled the air; small moans erupted as they explored spots that haven't had their attention in a very long time.

"W-What's going on?" Ruby questioned, she was confused, but she liked it far too much to make her stop.

"I said 24 hours…" Weiss let out breathlessly between kisses, "We pick up where we left off for 24 hours." Another heated exchange, this time the sound of shoes being kicked off echoed through the room.

"Alright." Ruby said into Weiss' lips, her hands were already trying to work her out of her top.

They had about 8 hours left.

Ruby breathed in deeply, the scent of sweat and sweet lavender filled her senses. A soft bundle nuzzled up against her neck as they both began to stir.

"Hey." Ruby let out in a raspy tone.

"Hey." Weiss smiled as she laid a lazy arm across Ruby's bare stomach, "I have to go back."

"To work?" The Huntress knew better, but she wanted to feign dumb.

"To reality." A soft whisper, "I have an obligation Ruby… and I do care about… him." She was careful to not say his name.

"I guess so, since the kid's done so much." A sigh, "Neptune better take good care of you."

"He will."

Weiss felt her chin being pulled upward, roses and used dust powder was what Ruby tasted like.

The two lay there for a bit, Weiss made the first move to get up and start getting dressed. Ruby followed suit.

The business mogul caught sight of the coin again, this time she picked it up and pocketed it before Ruby could ask why.

"Come back for it."

With a hasty kiss, Weiss left the room, as Ruby was only half dressed.

* * *

It would be a couple months before Ruby would come back for the coin. They both knew that they needed some time to themselves after that fateful 24-hour proposal.

White Castle was gorgeous against the early spring backdrop of Atlas, the snow was beginning to melt, but small patches of it could be spotted.

Weiss touted around out back of White Castle, the reception was to take place indoors, where most of the crowd was already settled down in. A beautiful long flowing white dress followed her every steps, her veil and bouquet was set down inside, she asked to be left alone before the big event.

In her hand was a precious round metal object, in the other held a wedding invitation that familiar handwriting had been scrawled on the back.

 _My dearest Weiss,_

 _It's been a very long time since I've written to you, I think about those 24-hours together a lot._

 _That really should be me, but I'm not as young and hot-blooded as before. I understand the situation you're in; I understand that a lot of time has passed since we broke up. I regret hesitating, I regret not being there, I regret not truly following my heart, but I'll never regret being in your life. And I'll never regret staying in it._

 _I can't wait to see how beautiful you are in your wedding dress._

 _Ruby Rose_

Although the soldier didn't make it to the pre-wedding day events that included dinner and a wine tour in Atlas. She was beginning to become skeptical as to whether or not the Rose would show up.

As if on cue, footsteps filled the courtyard. Weiss looked up to see a rather prominent figure clad in Vale's military dress uniform.

"I've always wanted to see you in your dress blues." Weiss admired. Ruby Rose could definitely break a couple of necks in that outfit.

"I've always wanted to see you in a wedding dress." A small smile, "Nervous?"

"As I'll ever be." The Schnee let out.

"You'll do fine, you always do." A small hand was placed behind ear, the comforting gesture provided some relief to bride-to-be's nerves. She leaned into the hand; her hand that clutched the invitation was placed over the Soldier's.

"If you say." Those silver eyes captivated her attention once again, but she knew that she would spend the rest of her days staring into dark blue eyes that belong to her bridegroom.

Ruby plucked out the invitation she had wrote on, "Sorry I'm a bit late, we're getting ready for another combat tour." The invitation was set aside.

Both of their attention was drawn to the round metal object in Weiss' hand, "Stay safe." She whispered, the coin pressed into Soldier's hand.

"Keep it, I'll come back for it after my tour." Ruby smiled softly, "I'll write."

A happy smile made it's way to the bride-to-be, "I'll write back too."

A comfortable silence ensued between the two, they stood hand in hand as they pressed their foreheads against each other.

"You're absolutely beautiful." A thumb ran across the bride's lips as Ruby looked down at them before staring deeply into those diamond like pools, "I'll always love you, Weiss." A gentle tone let out.

"I'll always love you too, Ruby." A small kiss ensued.

Weiss watched as that powerful back walked into White Castle.

* * *

Patch held a gentle spring breeze, the luscious green filled the forest scenery, and the scent of wild flowers filled the air. Weiss absolutely loved it there - she loved it there in her favorite soldier's hometown.

She wore a familiar deep red jacket as she walked up the path to where her beloved awaited. Weiss smiled as she inhaled the scent of roses and used dust powder that would never wash out no matter how times she wore it out.

It was going to be a beautiful day.

Slowly, she came to a stop before the familiar spot; it had been a long time since Weiss had been here.

 _For those I love, I will sacrifice. Huntress 683. Ruby Rose._

It had been 5 years since Ruby came home in an eternal rest.

Weiss Schnee-Vasilias stood on the hill, two head stones were placed side by side. The now President of Schnee Dust Company had given birth to her first born baby girl a year ago.

"We named her Rose, you would have loved her." Weiss recounted with a hand on the stone, "I miss you, dunce."

She reached for the leather throng around her neck, she popped the coin out of the holder and held it up, "I'm still waiting for you to come back for this." A small smile.

"Neptune has been doing a great job as a husband, even better as a father, he says he knows you'll come back from the grave if he isn't doing things properly." A light laugh.

Her fingers traced the number 683 like she had done countless times before when ever she thought of the Huntress. "The war with the Grimm terror group is just about done, when you guys went in to kill the leader, things got a lot easier for the rest of us." Weiss managed to get a hold of the initial reporting when she found out what happened to Ruby.

She had gotten into a firefight with the Salem and a few others inside the compound; the Grimm's notorious leader was on the ropes. Ruby's team was pinned down in the other room when it happened.

A grenade rolled in. Ruby didn't hesitate as she jumped on it.

Her team took care of the rest, Jaune led the vengeful charge and headed in to the adjoin room to return the favor to Salem. He too came back in a leaning rest, after he shot killed Salem and a majority of the Grimm terrorist group.

The Huntsmen released a statement, although they lost two of their finest, it was because of those two that the casualties were kept to a near minimum considering that this was a near suicide mission.

"I said to come back safe." The Schnee's cheek was wet, "But you did say that your job was to keep me safe, huh?" Another tear came dripping down.

"You… You dolt." She placed a hand on the head stone.

"I love you, Ruby Rose." Weiss Schnee let out with her whole heart.

"I love you too, Weiss Schnee."

The voice caused the white haired woman to whip her head about, for the source of the voice.

But all she could see was the flutter of rose petals in the wind.

* * *

Took a little break from _Salvage_.

I tend to remember some things that are long gone when I try to write. I figured that this time, instead of stopping my writing, I'll channel it into a story.

Such is life.

Cheers,

DevilRed


	2. Like Roses

So I've been toying with the idea of continuing this story as a 'what if' scenario, but it didn't seem to fit well. Instead I wanted to explore the idea of how Ruby and Weiss' relationship could inspire the next generation for something more... or less. Only one way to find out.

Here goes nothing:

* * *

 _ **I couldn't take it, couldn't stand another minute. Couldn't bear another day without you in it. All of the joy that I had known for my life, was stripped away from me the minute that you died.**_

A young girl with eyes bright like diamonds, her hair white as snow that was kissed at the tips by the blue sky erupted in joyous laughter as she nearly pounced upon a younger toddler as she scurried through the living room.

Said toddler had hair kissed by the sun, her eyes also golden as it held a rather striking glare – despite how innocent the gesture may be. Rose remembered the first time she cause sight of those golden eyes staring into her own, it seemed so sharp that it pierced right through her. It made her shudder, but in a good way.

And ever since then Rose absolutely adored the Faunus.

"Phoenix!" Rose Schnee-Vasilias called out in glee, "You can walk now! You're so big!" The five year old child remembered the last time she saw the young daughter of her Auntie Yang and Auntie Blake, "You were barely able to take three steps without falling and now you're practically running!" She giggled as she chased the young Faunus about the living room.

"Careful now Rose! Take care not to let her run into the-" Weiss chastised as she moved quickly from the kitchen counter.

Weiss was cut off by the loud thunk that Nix produced when she ran straight into the wall. The business mogul stopped right in her tracks as there was a moment, that moment of calm before a storm.

A sniffle erupted from the previously happy face as a red spot was beginning to develop on the Lynx-type Faunus' nose.

A flash of black was all that was seen as Blake knelt down beside her daughter, "Uh oh," Such motherly tone echoed throughout the otherwise quiet room, Weiss let go of a breathe she didn't know she was holding as Blake quickly picked up Phoenix to pat her back, "You're okay there little one," She pulled back to try to get a better look at Nix's nose, but the child refused as she clung to her mother.

"Rose!" A stern tone erupted from Weiss, "What have I told you about running in the living room? That's why I have you play outside in the gardens!" She chastised.

"It's alright Weiss," Blake cooed as she rubbed her child's back, "If it makes you feel better Yang's already dropped her like twice already, I doubt her run in with the wall is anything compared to those. And even then, Nix surprisingly didn't bawl nearly as long or as loud as expected." The sniffling subsided as the mother Faunus took a seat on the couch.

"I… I'm sorry Auntie Blake." Rose approached Blake shyly; the Xiao-Long Belladonna peered over at her friend to see that there was a certain _look_ that encourages the young child to come up to her.

"It's okay Rose, it was an accident. But it doesn't hurt to be more careful inside." Blake reassured the young Heiress, "You should try asking Nix if she's okay." She pulled the young Faunus away from her.

Those golden eyes made its way to those anticipating diamond ones, "Are you okay Nix?"

"O…Okay." Nix babbled out as she squirmed out of her mother's embrace, "Play!" Came the small voice as she jumped up and down.

"Let's go to my room then!" Rose exclaimed, she was about to run off once more, but she could _feel_ the icy gaze coming from her mother, "L-Let's walk Nix." She laughed nervously as she clutched the toddler's hand.

"Play!" Nix exclaimed again as the two clamored up the stairs and into the left wing of the Schnee Manor where the family slept.

 _ **To have you in my life was all I ever wanted, but now without you I'm a soul forever haunted. Can't help but feel that I had taken you for granted. No way in hell that I can ever comprehend this.**_

"Sheesh, you sure know how to lay it on." Yang smiled sheepishly as she too had come running when a certain mom-sense compelled her so. She stopped and opted to watch the scene when she saw that her wife had beat her to the punch, "Still such a Weiss queen."

"Shut it Xiao-Long." Weiss rolled her eyes.

"That's Xiao-Long Belladonna to you, Missy." Yang wagged her finger.

"Its just Xiao-Long when you're acting like an oaf." Rose's mother scoffed, "Thanks for staying while Neptune is gone, you didn't have to though, we're pretty much used to this. It's nice that he volunteers for all the business trips so that I can stay here… especially with Rose around." Weiss smiled, "He has a way with trying to make things easier on me."

"It's no big deal, actually…" Yang narrowed her eyes to Blake, a certain look passed over the detective's eyes. The Faunus merely got up.

"I'm going to check on the kids." She left without another word.

Weiss raised a brow, she noticed that Yang clutched on to something. "You know what today is, right?" She began

Weiss bit her cheek at the question, "How could I forget…" It was October 4th.

The day Ruby passed away – 9 years has passed since the gun-slinging idiot did something…. Selfless. Like she always had done.

Yang cleared her throat, "Well… I… After Nix's birthday last week I realized something." A deep breath, "The reason we named her Phoenix was after Ruby, really – since someone stole Rose." A playful glare, Weiss shook her head, "Well, it's because when Blake gave birth to her and I held her for the first time… the first time those precious amber eyes looked into mine, they were familiar – they reminded me of the way Ruby would look up to me and I just knew right then and there that we had to name her Phoenix."

"I just thought you pressed Blake to name her that because it just sounded cool." The Schnee President joked.

Yang shook her head, "No, I think she caught on to what I was thinking too because she said she couldn't think of any other name to call her after seeing her eyes. Like a part of her made it's way to Nix some way, some how." She smiled as she drew circles on the kitchen counter top, "On her birthday while we were at Patch to be with Dad and Uncle Qrow… That morning when I went to go wake her up, I saw that look again. As if Ruby was looking at me," A deep sigh, "And so I decided to finally go through some of Ruby's things… start to really sort them out and put them away. For so long Dad and I have just left that room as is, all the stuff that the Huntsmen unit sent us back was still in boxes."

Weiss stepped carefully around the island in the kitchen to join Yang's side, for the first time she caught a glance at the item she clutched. It was a metal box with Ruby's Huntsmen symbol on it. Absent mindedly, she clutched at the coin she wore as a necklace.

The detective cleared her throat, "It was tough, but Dad eventually joined me, and together we put her stuff away. Packed up the room so that guests could actually sleep in there now rather than on the couch." She swallowed hard; even her companion could hear it as a gentle hand was placed on her back. Carefully, she opened the lid, Weiss nearly gasped at what was inside, she recognized the handwriting as her own, but at the same time not her own. The familiar scrawling was written by someone who was much younger, much more naïve, and just so in love.

"I… I'm sorry, but I ended up reading all of them." Yang picked up the letter that was on top, "They're all kinda worn down, like Ruby didn't read them just once or a few times, it seemed like she read all of them a lot… Like they were her favorite fairy tale, the kind I used to read to her when she was much younger. But Weiss…. I'm sorry for getting so mad at you when we were Seniors at Beacon, back then I thought you didn't really care for my sister… but I realize now that you were genuinely in love with her… and that maybe you still do love her." Yang looked at the letter she held, it was dated merely three months after her wedding to Neptune. A knowing look was on the seasoned detective's face, "I haven't said anything to Blake, and I don't plan on telling anyone… and I'm not going to state the obvious about how it is to Neptune… but you really did love my sister, didn't you?"

"Yang… I… Those were supposed to be private… but I guess it's been so long now." Weiss sighed, "I've actually told Neptune about it, and the first question he asked was if it was after our wedding vows. I told him no – and he told me not too worry about it." Ice blue eyes gazed warmly at her wedding band, "He left the house for a few hours afterwards, but came back to bed with me that night. He held me close and whispered all the things that he loves about me." A tear formed, "I don't know how I deserve him… I don't know how I managed to get both someone like Ruby and someone like Neptune to fall in love with me. It's as if I am truly a spoiled Schnee brat."

"You're not." Lilac eyes looked her friend in the eyes, "You're a really great person, and you love with all your heart." She looked back down at the letters. "I just thought that these might find a better place with you." Yang closed the lid as she slid the box to her lifelong friend.

"Yang… I… thank you so much." An otherwise strong woman choked out as she ran her hands across the metal.

"Just take care of those, they meant a lot to her."

 _ **I wasn't dreaming when they told me you were gone. I was wide awake and feeling they had to be wrong.**_

"Take care Weiss!" Blake called out as they were getting ready to leave for Vale.

"Bye Phoenix, come back soon so we can play again!" Little Rose called out from the front door.

Weiss smiled as she waved to her friends, Yang noticed that it didn't quiet reached her eyes, but chose to let it go. There were somethings we all needed to handle on our own.

 _ **I was wide awake and feeling that they had to be wrong. How could leave me when you swore that you would stay?**_

It was late at night; Weiss sat alone in her study on a cloudy January night. The usual reflection of the shattered moonlight was nowhere to be found. It was nearly pitch black save for the desk light that was flipped on.

Neptune slept soundly in Rose's bedroom as the poor child had a nightmare.

Before her the gleam of the cold metal latch mesmerized her eyes. The glow of the Huntsmen symbol seemed to be alive, calling to her, mocking her, bidding her, telling her to hurry and open the box.

An ice-cold glare began to melt away at the determination within her; with shaky hands she approached the latch. Today was the day that she would finally open this box and read what she had wrote all those years ago to a certain Huntress.

 _ **It's like a movie, but there's not a happy ending. Every scene fades to black and there's no pretending. This little fairy tale doesn't seem to end well, there's no knight in shining armor who will wake me from the spell.**_

Sob.

That's all she could do as she clutched the very last letter she had sent.

She had said it to her so many times before.

Berated her so that it would some how make its way to her gun slinging, dust shooting, brash brain.

"I said… keep safe…" Small chokes could be heard.

The letter was placed back into the metal box, the latch echoed as it was clicked shut.

On the floor across the Schnee family coat of arms was a porcelain figure clutching on to a dark red jacket as if it were a lifeline.

 _ **I know you didn't plan this. You tried to do what's right.**_

"Weiss, you okay?" Neptune noticed the red eyes that his wife tried to hide in the morning light.

"I'm fine." A curt response, she continued her morning task of putting breakfast before Rose as the child was preoccupied with staring out the window to see the thick layer of snow that the night's snowfall had brought.

A gentle hand was placed over the obviously distressed woman's shoulder, "You're lying." His voice was stern.

"Just let it go!" Weiss nearly shrieked, this caught Rose's attention as she finally absorbed the scene before her.

"M-Mommy?" Rose was worried.

"I'm sorry dear," She was quick to pick up her daughter, "Mommy is tired."

"What happened?" Small hands clutched at the material on her back.

A soft sigh, "Mommy had a bad dream last night too."

Neptune frowned at the sight; a buzz went off from his Scroll – business waited for no one.

 _ **But in the middle of this madness, I'm the one you left to win this fight.**_

Neptune inspected the metal box that sat on Weiss' study. He clenched his jaw and breathed in deeply as he caught sight of the red jacket on the back of the chair. He opened the box and bit the inside of his cheek.

"Weiss…" His voice quiet, he looked out at the bright winter sun.

"Ruby, what should I do?"

The Vasilias looked down dejectedly, he turned to leave the room, but curiously caught the sight of the closet door in the study. Usually it was kept closed under lock and key, Weiss kept the most precious and important documents in there – usually drafts of high profile business agreements, wills and testimonies, contracts signed in pen…

Cautiously he peered inside, an unassuming brown box still had its lid removed, a stack of envelopes was tied together.

There were addressed to Weiss Schnee, written from a Ruby Rose.

 _ **Red like roses fills my head with dreams and finds me always closer to the emptiness and sadness. That has come to take the place of you.**_

"Neptune… it's late." Weiss peered into her study she hadn't seen her husband all afternoon. The clock struck midnight long ago.

Her husband had an unreadable expression.

The letters were neatly stacked on top of the heavy wooden desk.

"Neptune…" Weiss couldn't find her voice.

Ocean blue eyes broke out into a small smile, "Babe, you should read those."

"But… You're not angry?" She cautiously let out.

"I think she would have wanted you to."

Wordlessly he left the study, almost wordlessly, "I'm going to sleep with Rose, just in case she has another nightmare." His voice small as he left closed the door to the study, leaving Weiss alone with the letters.

 _ **I know you're broken down by anger and by sadness. You feel I left you in a world that's full of madness. Wish I could talk to you if only for a minute. Make you understand the reasons why I did it.**_

" _Hey Weiss." Silver were the eyes of the person who greeted her as she approached the Beacon student who waited impatiently at the airship dock of Vale._

 _Hastily, the legs of the Heiress carried her to the Solider as she jumped into the open arms._

" _Hey Ruby." Weiss whispered as she clutched on to her._

" _You're holding on to me like you didn't just see me a few weeks ago at my home station." Ruby joked as she put down her girlfriend. She had completed her first tour merely a week ago and was on leave for about 3 weeks. She had already spent a week back at Patch hanging out with her Dad and Uncle Qrow._

 _The Heiress clutched on to her Soldier's arm, "It already seems like months to me."_

" _Yeah… it seemed that way to me too." A firm arm was wrapped around the Heiress' waist as she pulled her closer. "I love you…" The voice was soft and unsure._

 _Weiss' breathe was caught in her throat, it was the first time anyone who wasn't Winter had told her that and genuinely meant it. Her jaw slacked, only to close again. All of the eloquent words that she had learned at Beacon University escaped her, her usually sharp tongue dull._

 _Ruby smiled at the reaction, a pair of lips that were red with warmth came down to capture the cold porcelain that quickly melted away. Where words failed Weiss, actions made up for it as she grabbed a fistful of the tinted red hair._

" _I love you too, dunce."_

 _ **I wanna tell you that you're all that ever mattered. Want you to know that for eternity I'm shattered. I tried so hard just to protect you, but I failed to and in a prison of abandonment I've jailed you.**_

A tear slid down Weiss' face as she opened the first letter Ruby had sent after the wedding.

 _June 13, 3056_

 _Weiss,_

 _I almost forgot how hot it was here; I've been sweating buckets since I got here._

 _I hope you're honeymoon was fun, tell Neptune I said hey – I think we made up pretty well at your wedding._

 _So remember the 'Coin Check' I've told you about? I'll refresh your memory if you don't – it's a thing in the military where one asshole calls a coin check and everyone has to pull out a certain Round Metal Object, who ever doesn't have a coin is now subject to a punishment. Usually it's buying everyone a round at the bar, but I've told you before that we can't drink here… So instead I get to pull a week's worth of night patrols._

 _I'm not upset… well, maybe a little because night patrols suck, but it made me think of you._

 _And when I think of you, I usually smile – a lot._

 _I hope you smile a lot when you think of me too._

 _Write back soon,_

 _Ruby_

 _ **I never planned that I would leave you there alone. I was sure that I would see you when I made it back home. And all the times I swore that it would be okay, now I'm nothing but a liar and you're thrown into the fray.**_

 _June 24, 3056_

 _Ruby Rose,_

 _I got your letter yesterday; it sure did take its time getting here._

 _Neptune wishes you well too, he says we'll all go this new dessert shop in downtown Atlas when you're back._

 _I smiled like no other when I saw this letter in the mail, and I want you to know that I always smile when I think of you too. Why wouldn't I?_

 _I must apologize for putting you through that ordeal, but I also have to remind you that you have an abundant amount of energy, so I'll think of those night patrols as righteous justice for all the times you woke me up early whenever you were over._

 _Father has been getting on my case lately; he wants me to have a child of all things. I just got married barely 4 months ago and he's already talking about children. Neptune and I have talked about it… We're not ready, not yet. There's so much we have to do, and I'm not even CEO of the company yet... I've told you my feelings about Father before; I want him to step down._

 _I don't want a child yet when I have yet to do the things I want to do – and that's to clean up the mess Father has made._

 _Remember that book Blake wrote about equality for all the Faunus? She mentioned Father's business practices several times and it has thoroughly angered him. I got a good laugh out of that._

 _Well, you've distracted me enough from my work._

 _Stay safe,_

 _Weiss Schnee_

 _ **This bedtime story ends with misery ever after. The pages are torn and there's no final chapter. I didn't have a choice, I did what I had to do. I made a sacrifice but forced a bigger sacrifice on you.**_

The tears stopped.

The letters she kept reading.

Laughter erupted from her lips as she read over the jokes and stories her favorite Soldier has told her. Stories she had nearly forgotten. Words that almost faded with the passage of time were now immortalized in this parchment before her.

She turned her attention to the jacket that hung on her chair; faintly it smelled of used dust powder and roses, just faintly though.

In her arms she held the piece of clothing, unaware of the door that opened behind her.

 _ **I know you've lived a nightmare, I caused you so much pain. But baby please don't do what I did. I don't want you to waste your life in vain.**_

"Mommy?" A raspy and almost feeble voice called out.

Weiss turned in her chair as she spotted her daughter peer through the study door.

"Rose, come back to bed, Mommy is busy." Neptune hastily walked up behind his daughter.

"No, it's fine." Her voice was clear, which caused Neptune to snap his head up at his wife. His surprise turned into a relaxed smile as he noticed the clear look on Weiss' face. The jacket in hand caught his attention.

"Daddy, I'm cold." Rose whined as she wrapped her arms around herself.

"Here little snowflake," Neptune reached a hand out for the jacket, he motioned Rose to come closer to him as he got down on his knees to be eye level with the child. Weiss was surprised as he carefully opened up the material and set it around his daughter. "Warm?"

Rose nodded her head, "Uh-huh! This is really warm." She snuggled into it deeper, Neptune broke out into a small chuckle.

"Rose… do you want to hear a bed time story?" Weiss started out as she crouched down on the floor beside Neptune.

"Sure!" Rose flung the arms of the jacket haphazardly, it brushed up against Weiss' nose, but she brushed it off. She made a grab for her daughter and sat her on her lap. Neptune put an arm around both of his precious girls as the family of three sat over the enormous family emblem that decorated Weiss' carpet of her study.

"What kind of story is it Mommy?" Ocean eyes gazed into diamond pools; his wedding band glinted in the moonlight.

Weiss planted a soft kiss on her husband's lips, "It's a story about Rose's name."

"My name!" Rose exclaimed, she put her hands to her mouth in shock, albeit the huge sleeves covered them.

"Uh-huh…" Weiss glanced at the letters on the desk, "There was a Hero, her name was Ruby Rose and all she wanted to do was keep the people she cared for with all her heart safe."

Rose's eyes went wide as she processed her mother's soft tone, "So I'm named after a superhero?"

"Something like that." Neptune smiled softly at Rose.

"She pledged her life to fight bad guys who wanted to do bad things to people like you and me." Weiss continued, Neptune chuckled again at the expressions Rose produced, "And so…"

 _ **Red like roses fills my dreams and brings me to place you rest. White is cold and always yearning, burdened by a royal test. Black the beast descends from shadows. Yellow beauty burns gold.**_

6 airships flew overhead in a tight military formation.

In a merriment and hails a line of once stone still cadets tossed their covers into the air as official Second Lieutenants in Vale's Military.

"Congrats, you made it in one piece." A rather sultry voice laced with mock surprise grabbed the graduated cadet's attention.

Golden eyes looked straight into diamond ones, a huge grin broke out on the once expressionless face.

"Told you I could do it." Came the quip back.

"As if I doubted you in the first place, Phoenix." The 21 year old grew a devious smile, "Too bad you're not 21 – other wise I'd say let's go celebrate at Aunt Yang's favorite bar."

"Rose, you know the last thing I want to do is see Ma get drunk – _again._ " The 18 year old sighed as she remembered getting a call once at 2 am from her Mom asking her to come by and pick up an intoxicated Yang.

Rose looked about the parade grounds where they held graduation ceremonies for everyone who joined the military in Vale. Whether they enlisted in a 12-week Basic Training to become full-fledged Privates that would turn into experienced Sergeants that knew the ins and outs of any battle or have the coveted opportunity to commission in a 1-year course to become Second Lieutenants and potential a future General to lead the charge.

She breathed in the spring air, she loved the town where Nix grew up in, and it was always warm, always bright – unlike the grey winters that often encompassed all of Atlas. The sky above was a brilliant blue; she wondered what it would be like to fly the way Nix would one day.

"What are you thinking?" Nix questioned as she stood next to Rose who was clad in a light blue sundress. Nix's dress blues were prim and caught a certain Heiress' lingering stare one times too many. It was a rare sight to see Nix's rather wild short mane to be tamed and styled into something dapper.

"I'm just thinking about the time you'll take me flying one day." A smirk, "You'll take me flying once you get your wings right? On an actual airship?" A challenging hand pushed her childhood friend in the shoulder.

Nix quickly caught her by the wrist, "Not just any kind of flying in some regular old airship, but some real flying by a top of the line Fighter Pilot." The smile faltered a bit, "Although I've got another year of training so I can learn how to fly."

"I can wait, but just know that I'll hold you to it, Phoenix." Rose teased back.

Ocean blue eyes watched his daughter carefully, the gears in his head turning. Next to him stood an equally engrossed look that belonged to lilac eyes.

"Yang… is Nix dating anyone?" Neptune questioned with a raised brow.

"Not that I know of, what about Rose?" Yang was straight to the point.

He narrowed his eyes, "No one I know of…"

"Hey, let's go take a picture!" Blake called as she walked down to the parade grounds where Nix and Rose stood.

"Come on Dear." Weiss motioned to her husband as she caught up to her Faunus friend of many years.

A rose petal drifted through the spring breeze as Phoenix and Rose stood close to each other at the insistence of a quick photo session. They would do their kids first and then grab a random stranger to snap a picture of both families. Just as Neptune was about to snap the photo, the lone rose petal found a perch on top of Rose's snow white hair. Out of reflex, Nix reached for the petal to take out of her hair.

It was in that moment the two locked eyes, Rose smiled softly as she recognized the comforting feeling she would always get she caught those amber orbs. Nix smiled softly as she felt herself getting pulled into the hypnotizing gaze.

Neptune had snapped the photo; he took a look at his scroll and blinked rather quickly.

"How does it look?" Yang was the first to ask, she briefly caught sight of the screen but Neptune reopened the camera function of his scroll.

"Uh… I gotta take another one." Neptune let out sheepishly as Nix and Rose groaned inwardly, "What? I'll get it right this time." He smiled as she repositioned the camera at the two.

One day, he'll show this photo to both Rose and Phoenix. A photo of the two gazing at each other with such innocence as Phoenix held on to the stray rose petal.

Rose petal.

'You too, Ruby?' Neptune thought to himself as he looked up at the wide blue sky up ahead.

* * *

I penned this a while back, but I wasn't sure if I wanted to go ahead and post a sequel that was centered on daughters of Blake and Yang as well as Neptune and Weiss.

I do enjoy the idea of writing about two individuals who are young, in love, and so unsure - and I wanted to explore this concept while potentially using Ruby and Weiss' history and relationship to some how inspire these two to fall in love with each other.

After debating, I decided that nothing ventured was nothing gained.

Hopefully you enjoyed it and might give the sequel 'The Letters' a chance, or perhaps you prefer to pretend that this sequel I've begun to spun never happened in the first place. All I know is that I'm surprisingly excited to pen this story.

Cheers,

DevilRed


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